Yesterday, family members as well as trained volunteers and professionals searched for the missing man who is described as a white male, five feet, 8 inches tall, 125 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes. He may also be wearing a long gray raincoat and a white round fishing cap.

If you have any information contact 923 – 2420 or 223 – 2800. Also the Search and Rescue crews will be working close to the road. Many aren’t wearing uniforms. Please SLOW DOWN when passing them or any others near the roadway.
April 27 at 7:00am

The Search and Rescue crews searching for the missing man Robert Firestone have requested a helicopter because the search has not been fruitful so far. The unit is expected to begin flying in the next hour. It will be close to the ground. Please do not be alarmed. This helicopter has a variety of different instruments to help locate the missing man.

The latest sighting known of Mr. Firestone as of this time was in front of The Hemp Connection at 11:30 Monday night. A BOLO (Be On the Look Out) for him has been extended throughout Humboldt and Mendocino Counties in case Mr. Firestone accepted a ride hitchhiking.

“Our time is running out …,” says Diana Totten. She urges everyone to report any information and to be tolerant of the flying helicopter.
April 27 at 11:00am

SoHum Awareness:

Search and Rescue crews halt ground search for Robert Firestone

~from KymKemp.com

We’ve Exhausted Our Leads

The local search and rescue teams and the Sheriff’s department posse are packing up and heading home after searching for two days for Robert Firestone, an elderly man. “We’ve done a really thorough search but patients with dementia don’t follow a set pattern,” says Diana Totten a member of Southern Humboldt Technical Rescue. “We’ve walked every stretch of road from Dean Creek to Benbow….They’ve brought in helicopter and boat to look everywhere….We’ve exhausted our leads.” But then she added that she personally was still looking as of 4:30 this afternoon in the Kimtu area.

Totten says that the hope is that Mr. Firestone has “caught a ride with someone…He has gotten in cars with people before and just rode off.” He does have identification as his wallet is missing, too. The Sheriff’s Dept is expanding their search by notifying police and hospitals through out the North Coast so that they can be actively looking for him outside of the immediate area.

Most of the searchers have been trained volunteers and although they haven’t given up, they don’t feel that more ground searching in the local area is likely to be effective. Totten says the crews are disappointed in some ways. “It’s like going on a Easter Egg hunt and coming back with nothing in your basket…” She pauses, then adds quietly, “On the other hand , we didn’t find a body and that’s a good thing.” The hope that Mr. Firestone has hitchhiked to another area is strong so posters and internet connections are being utilized to get the word out. “We haven’t given up,” Totten says. “We’ve just moved on to a more extensive type of search.”
April 27 at 5:00pm

April 27 at 7:50pm

SoHum Awareness: Diana Totten:
As our ground search has not led us to Robert or any other leads, we will be extending the search nationwide through law enforcement. Also the new posters will be going up all through Humboldt and Mendocino counties. Our search strategies change as the information and searchers reports are compiled. We have searched the likely places in the Garberville – Redway area the best we can with dog teams as well as search and rescue teams. We can never check everywhere but feel we did what we could within reason. We will still follow any new lead or info. and our hopes are that he will show up and tell a story of great adventures. If anyone has info please call 911 or the local numbers that are being posted. Our community has given a lot of good leads so far and hope that continues.
(Local numbers 923–2420 or 223–2800)
April 27 at 8:21pm

SoHum Awareness: Janice Zaugg:
I hope everyone in Garberville is looking around their own homes for this missing man, he could be in a back yard or on the side of your home, lost and confused. Years ago in So. Cal. A older gentleman was lost and confused and ended up in our back yard thankfully a neighbor saw him in the a.m. and called us, he had been there all night. Please take a walk around your yards and look. Thanks.
April 27 at 10:19pm

April 28, 2011

SoHum Awareness:
Bob still missing. Searchers following leads. It’s very possible that he is still near here. If you see Bob please call the numbers in the poster. If you come upon him please act calm, be friendly and approach slowly. – Advice from Bob’s friend. – Estelle
April 28 at 1:53pmDiana Totten: We have been getting new info throughout the day which really helps.Thank you. Its like a puzzle with many pieces, so when people are able to give a piece of the puzzle, it helps us put the whole picture together. Thanks again.
April 28 at 6:06pm

May 2, 2011

SoHum Awareness: Diana Totten:Sorry I haven’t given daily updates on the Robert Firestone case. I am working closely with the family and sheriff dept. When we find Robert I will call the coordinators that monitor this site and the news will be posted. We continue to work on leads as they come in but at this time there is nothing new to report. diana
May 2 at 8:58am

About Using Facebook

The SoHum Awareness Facebook page is "public". This means anyone can read it. You do not need to have a Facebook account in order to read what is on the page. But if you want to interact with the page, you will need to have a Facebook account, and "like" SoHum Awareness Facebook page.

SoHumAwareness.org Goes Live

SoHumAwareness.org, will play an active, as well as archival role in documenting any disaster incidents and other events that are being posted to our public SoHum Awareness Facebook page.
Any major incident will be cross posted to this website.
Those of you who don't want to use Facebook or visit Kym Kemp's blog - RedHeaded Blackbelt will have access to at least some of the content from those other sites posted here.
Remember to get the latest SoHumAwareness news, you should follow us @sohumawareness on Twitter and on the SoHum Awareness Facebook page.
If you are new to SoHum Awareness, take a look back through the posts in late March 2011 and April 2011 to see what prompted this website and the Facebook page. ~bobbi